The Slaver Weapon (episode)
A group of Kzinti divert the shuttle Copernicus and retrieve a newly discovered Slaver weapon. Summary Commander Spock, Lieutenants Sulu and Uhura are on route to Starbase 25 aboard the shuttle Copernicus to deliver a Slaver stasis box. When the ship passes Beta Lyrae the stasis box begins to glow indicating a second box is hidden in that system. Shortly after landing on the icy planet they are captured by a group of Kzinti that is lead by Chuft Captain who commands the Traitor's Claw, a stolen police cruiser. In the opened box the Kzinti find a picture, some meat and a weapon once created by the Slavers. When the Kzinti test the weapon on the captured starfleet officers one of the many settings accidentally disengages the police web that holds the three officers, giving Spock the chance to get back the weapon. Sulu and Spock manage to flee and discover a hidden setting of the weapon, that sets free a giant energy beam. However the Kzinti are able to get hold of the two officers and the weapon again. When trying to find the hidden setting, they are trapped by the weapon's computer which self destructs, kills the Chuft Captain and his crew and causes major damage to the Traitor's Claw. -Sulu and Spock debate weather or not just to give the Kziniti the Slaver weapon in exchange for free passage. Spock decides to further explore any any other settings on the slaver he can find. The Slaver weapon's highest energy emits an explosion at least on par with an present day nuclear weapon. A shot far off into the horizon of the planet yields a huge mushroom cloud and fallout, nearly killing Sulu and he. Sulu exclaims "Well, we can't give them THAT!". -One of the settings for the weapon that Spock finds is that of a "reasoning computer": a remarkable achievment for a handheld piece of equipment. The computer only gives scant details about it's origins and abilities, aluding to war fought long ago by two dead races. The Slaver weapon then tells Sulu that unless it is supplied with "certain code words" it will answer no further questions. -When the Kziniti retake the weapon and put it on it's "reasoning computer" mode, the enterprise crew recognize that while it is on the appropriate setting, it has a different appearance that it did when they interacted with it. At Spock's behest the Enterprise crew flee. The Kziniti are now uninterested, facinated by thier new toy. The Slaver weapon detonates, killing the Kziniti in a massive explosion. The slaver weapon, awakend after an indeterminate time and surronded by beings that do not know it's proper interaction protocols has decided to suicide / self destruct to keep vital tactical info from falling into long extinct enemy hands... Background Information This episode was based on Larry Niven's SF (not Star Trek) short story "The Soft Weapon", which was published in 1967. The characters in the original story were Jason Papandreou (changed to Lt. Sulu for the episode), Jason's wife Anne-Marie (changed to Lt. Uhura for the episode), and the Pierson's Puppeteer Nessus, a manic-depressive member of a race of pacifistic herbivores (changed to Spock for the episode). Links and References Guest Stars *James Doohan as Chuft Captain *James Doohan as Kzin telepath *James Doohan as Computer Voice References Copernicus; disruptor bomb; Highest of Kzin; Kzin; Kzin Patriarchy; Slaver weapon; Treaty of Sirius; life support belt; Earth-Kzin Wars; Slaver Empire Slaver Weapon, The de:Das Geheimnis der Stasis-Box